Sr. Content Developer at Microsoft, working remotely in PA, TechBash conference organizer, former Microsoft MVP, Husband, Dad and Geek.
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AWS Weekly Roundup: Anthropic & Meta partnership, AWS Lambda S3 Files, Amazon Bedrock AgentCore CLI, and more (April 27, 2026)

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Late March took me to Seattle for the Specialist Tech Conference, one of the most energizing gatherings of AWS specialists from around the world. It was an incredible opportunity to connect with peers, exchange experiences, and go deep on the latest advancements in Generative AI and Amazon Bedrock — and a powerful reminder of something I truly believe in: when specialists come together to challenge each other, explore edge cases, and co-create solutions, the impact goes far beyond the meeting room. In a fast-moving space like AI, having a strong internal community isn’t a nice-to-have — it’s a competitive advantage.

Now, let’s get into this week’s AWS news…

Headlines

Anthropic partnership: Claude on AWS Trainium and Graviton, and Claude Cowork in Amazon Bedrock – This week, AWS and Anthropic deepened their product collaboration in meaningful ways for builders. Anthropic is now training its most advanced foundation models on AWS Trainium and Graviton infrastructure, co-engineering directly at the silicon level with Annapurna Labs to maximize computational efficiency from the hardware up through the full stack.

Claude Cowork is now available in Amazon Bedrock — Claude Cowork brings Anthropic’s collaborative AI capabilities directly to enterprise builders within the AWS ecosystem, enabling teams to work alongside Claude as a true collaborator, not just a tool. You can now deploy Claude Cowork within your existing Amazon Bedrock environment, keeping your data secure within AWS while leveraging the full power of Claude for team-based AI workflows.

Claude Platform on AWS (Coming soon) — A unified developer experience to build, deploy, and scale Claude-powered applications without leaving AWS. If you’re building with Generative AI on AWS, this is a significant step forward in what you’ll be able to do with Claude directly through Amazon Bedrock.

Meta signs agreement with AWS to power agentic AI on Amazon’s Graviton chips — Meta has signed an agreement to deploy AWS Graviton processors at scale, starting with tens of millions of Graviton cores to power CPU-intensive agentic AI workloads — including real-time reasoning, code generation, search, and multi-step task orchestration.

Last week’s launches

Here are some launches and updates from this past week that caught my attention:

  • AWS Lambda functions can now mount Amazon S3 buckets as file systems with S3 Files — You can now mount Amazon S3 buckets as file systems in AWS Lambda using S3 Files, enabling your functions to perform standard file operations without downloading data for processing. Built on Amazon EFS, S3 Files provides the simplicity of a file system with the scalability, durability, and cost-effectiveness of S3 — and multiple Lambda functions can connect to the same file system simultaneously, sharing data through a common workspace. This is particularly valuable for AI and machine learning workloads where agents need to persist memory and share state across pipeline steps.
  • Amazon EKS Hybrid Nodes gateway for hybrid Kubernetes networking — Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service now offers the Amazon EKS Hybrid Nodes gateway, which automates networking between your EKS cluster VPC and Kubernetes Pods running on EKS Hybrid Nodes. You can now eliminate the need to make on-premises pod networks routable or coordinate network infrastructure changes, greatly simplifying hybrid Kubernetes environments. The gateway automatically enables pod-to-pod traffic across cloud and on-premises environments, control plane-to-webhook communication, and connectivity for AWS services like Application Load Balancers, and is available at no additional charge.
  • Amazon Aurora Serverless: Up to 30% better performance, smarter scaling, and still scales to zero — Amazon Aurora Serverless just got faster and smarter, with up to 30% better performance than the previous version and an enhanced scaling algorithm designed to handle workloads where multiple tasks compete for resources — like busy APIs and agentic AI applications with bursts of activity and long idle windows. You can now run even more demanding workloads serverlessly, paying only for what you use, and automatically scaling to zero when not in use. All improvements are available in platform version 4 at no additional cost.
  • Amazon Bedrock AgentCore adds new features to help developers build agents faster — Amazon Bedrock AgentCore introduces a managed harness (preview), the AgentCore CLI, and AgentCore skills for coding assistants, helping developers go from idea to working agent prototype faster. The managed harness lets you define an agent by specifying a model, system prompt, and tools and run it immediately with no orchestration code required — and when you’re ready for full control, you can export the harness orchestration as Strands-based code. The AgentCore CLI deploys your agents with the governance and auditability of infrastructure-as-code (AWS CDK today, Terraform coming soon), and is available in 14 AWS Regions at no additional charge.

For a full list of AWS announcements, be sure to keep an eye on the What’s New with AWS page.

Other AWS news

Here are some additional posts and resources that you might find interesting:

  • Introducing granular cost attribution for Amazon Bedrock — This post walks through how Amazon Bedrock’s granular cost attribution works and covers practical example cost tracking scenarios. You can now tag and track Bedrock usage costs at a finer level of detail — useful for organizations running multiple teams or projects on Bedrock who need precise cost visibility and chargeback capabilities.
  • Automating Incident Investigation with AWS DevOps Agent and Salesforce MCP Server — This post (co-written with Salesforce) shows how AWS DevOps Agent, integrated with the Salesforce MCP Server, automates the full lifecycle of infrastructure incident investigation — from identifying issues and diagnosing root causes to notifying customers through Salesforce Service Cloud. It’s a compelling real-world example of how AI agents and MCP-based tool connectivity are reshaping DevOps workflows in production, dramatically reducing mean time to resolution.
  • Microcredentials from AWS are now free — Here’s why that matters — You can now access AWS microcredentials at no cost through AWS Skill Builder in all countries where the platform is offered. Unlike traditional multiple-choice certifications, microcredentials are hands-on assessments that place builders in simulated business scenarios where they configure, troubleshoot, and optimize directly in a live AWS environment — the same way they would on the job. A great opportunity to validate real cloud skills without a cost barrier.
  • Amazon SageMaker AI now supports optimized generative AI inference recommendations — You can now use Amazon SageMaker AI to automatically identify optimized deployment configurations for your generative AI models, including instance type, container, and inference parameters. This new capability takes the guesswork out of tuning inference infrastructure, helping you reduce costs and improve latency for your AI applications in production.

Upcoming AWS events

Check your calendar and sign up for upcoming AWS events:

  • What’s Next with AWS — Tune in on April 28 for What’s Next with AWS, a virtual event featuring the latest announcements and product updates directly from AWS teams. A great opportunity to get up to speed on what’s new before diving into the week’s launches.
  • AWS Summits — AWS Summits are free in-person events where you can explore the latest in cloud and AI innovation, learn best practices, and network with builders and experts. Coming up in May: Singapore (May 6), Tel Aviv (May 6), Warsaw (May 6), Stockholm (May 7), Sydney (May 13–14), Hamburg (May 20), Seoul (May 20), Amsterdam (May 27), Bangkok (May 28), Milan (May 28), and Mumbai (May 28). And in June, join us in Los Angeles (June 10). Check the full schedule and register at the link above.
  • AWS Community Days — Community-led conferences where content is planned, sourced, and delivered by community leaders, featuring technical discussions, workshops, and hands-on labs. Upcoming events include Athens, Greece (April 28), Vancouver, Canada (May 1), İstanbul, Türkiye (May 9), and Panama City, Panama (May 23). If you’re in Latin America, mark your calendar for the AWS Community Day Belo Horizonte (August 22) — registration is open at awscommunityday.com.br.

Join the AWS Builder Center to connect with builders, share solutions, and access content that supports your development. Browse here for upcoming AWS-led in-person and virtual events and developer-focused events.

That’s all for this week. Check back next Monday for another Weekly Roundup!

— Daniel Abib

This post is part of our Weekly Roundup series. Check back each week for a quick roundup of interesting news and announcements from AWS!

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Elon Musk and Sam Altman’s court battle over the future of OpenAI

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Graphic photo collage of Sam Altman and Elon Musk.

Sam Altman and Elon Musk are set to face off in a high-stakes trial that could alter the future of tech’s leading AI startup, OpenAI. The trial begins with jury selection on April 27th, as Musk pushes forward his 2024 lawsuit that accuses OpenAI of abandoning its founding mission of developing AI to benefit humanity and shifting focus to boosting profits instead.

Musk was a cofounder of OpenAI and claims that Altman and co-founder Greg Brockman tricked him into giving the company money, only to turn their backs on their original goal. However, OpenAI says that “This lawsuit has always been a baseless and jealous bid to derail a competitor” in a bid to boost Musk’s own SpaceX / xAI / X companies that have launched Grok as a competitor to ChatGPT.

In his lawsuit, Musk is asking for the removal of Altman and Brockman, and for OpenAI to stop operating as a public benefit corporation. Musk has also demanded that OpenAI’s nonprofit receive up to $150 billion in damages he’s asking for if he wins the case.

Here’s all the latest on the trial between Musk and Altman:

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JetBrains Annual Highlights 2026 Are Here!

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In our industry, things move fast. There is always something new, something changing, or something worth keeping an eye on. 

Here is our look back at what happened at JetBrains in 2025, in a news-style recap:

JetBrains continues to evolve alongside the software development landscape, helping individuals and organizations build, ship, and maintain software with greater focus and confidence. As the industry changes, especially in the age of AI, we remain committed to creating tools and experiences that align with how developers want to work – and 2025 was no exception. 

This past year brought important milestones across our products, our business, and the communities we support. From progress in AI-powered development to continued growth in enterprise adoption, it was a year of momentum. 

For a detailed overview of our achievements and noteworthy moments from the year gone by, explore the full JetBrains Annual Highlights here.

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Making the Most of Visual Studio's XAML Tools

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From: VisualStudio
Duration: 35:02
Views: 129

Pedro shows the tools available in Visual Studio that make XAML development more productive, with a particular focus on XAML Live Preview.

⌚ Chapters:
00:00 Welcome
01:40 Typing XAML vs using tooling
06:00 Using XAML Live Preview
08:10 Modifying the UI while app is running with Hot Reload
12:25 Modifying a more advanced UI
24:45 Review of additional XAML tools
26:30 Using the Live Visual Tree
29:50 Using XAML tools in WPF apps
33:30 Wrap-up

Note: Robert and Pedro were not able to show how you turn off the toolbar that provides access to the XAML tools. You can control this by going to All Settings | Debugging | XAML Hot Reload and checking or unchecking Enable in-app toolbar.

🎙️ Featuring: Robert Green, Pedro Jesus

#visualstudio2026 #visualstudio #xaml

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Available today: GPT-5.5 Thinking and ChatGPT Images 2.0 in Microsoft 365 Copilot

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Today, we’re expanding what Microsoft 365 Copilot can do with GPT-5.5 Thinking and ChatGPT Images 2.0 bringing stronger support for deeper analysis, multi-step work, and visual creation.

GPT-5.5 Thinking is now available in Copilot Studio early release cycle environments as GPT-5.5 Reasoning and is rolling out across Microsoft 365 Copilot in Copilot Chat, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. ChatGPT Images 2.0 is rolling out to Copilot in PowerPoint and coming soon to Copilot Chat.

Together with Work IQ, these updates help Copilot deliver more focused, relevant, and complete outputs for analysis, creation, and complex work.

Our team will continue to refine the experience based on your feedback.

For more details, learn more about GPT-5.5 Thinking here and ChatGPT Images 2.0 here.

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alvinashcraft
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AspireMonitor: Stop bouncing between your Aspire dashboard and your code.

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AspireMonitor — your Aspire AppHost, one tray icon away

⚠ This blog post was created with the help of AI tools. Yes, I used a bit of magic from language models to organize my thoughts and automate the boring parts, but the geeky fun and the 🤖 in C# are 100% mine.

Hi!

dotnet tool install --global ElBruno.AspireMonitor
aspiremon

What it is

AspireMonitor is a Windows tray app that puts your Aspire AppHost status one click away. No browser tabs. No switching context. Click the tray icon, see what’s running, Start/Stop your app, or pin the resources you actually care about in a compact mini window.

Why it exists

If you use Aspire, you know the dashboard is useful—but you don’t want a browser tab open all day. You’re writing code, not monitoring. AspireMonitor solves the friction: a lightweight tray icon that gives you “is my API up?” and “what URL does this service run on?” without leaving your IDE.

Why it’s useful

v1.4.0 ships with two killer features:

The mini window pins only the resources you care about (configure once: web, store, gateway) with their live URLs and Start/Stop buttons. The main window shows the full resource list when you need it.

Start now works correctly—it stays disabled with ⏳ Starting Aspire... (12 / 90s) so you know when resources are actually ready. Stop actually stops. URLs are real (http://localhost:5021), not generic “Open” links.

AspireMonitor mini window—pinned resources with live URLs
AspireMonitor main window—full resource list

Get it

Built with .NET 10 + WPF. Shells out to aspire describe—no third-party SDK dependency.

Happy coding!

Greetings

El Bruno

More posts in my blog ElBruno.com.

More info in https://beacons.ai/elbruno




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